Rocking Chair or not?

[MummyTummy]

I wasn't planning on getting a nursing/rocking chair but am starting to wonder whether I should or not.

If it is better not to move baby from the room during night feeds then I will need to have one. There isn't much room in the nursery to put one, I will manage if I have to though. I was thinking that I would go out to the lounge room for night feeds but I guess this isn't a good idea if it is going to really wake the baby up.

Any thoughts? Also which type of chair is good to go with?

[AnyDream]

Ok, any chair that you feel comfortable in enough to snooze in will do! Although bear in mind in the early days you may need to sit quite upright (ie well supported back) in order to get your positioning and attachment right if you're planning to BFeed your little one.

For bub #1, we made do with dragging one of our armchairs into the bedroom. For bub #2, I went all out for a lay-z-boy rocking recliner and it's the single thing I love the most in my entire house! I'm quite tall so many of the rocking chairs on the market just don't fit...this chair is quite comfy for both DH and myself, and has the added rocking feature plus you can recline/put your feet up. We chose a chair with a smallish footprint because we only had a smallish corner to put it in, but it was definitely the best purchase we made! I love it that much we might even buy the rest of the lounge suite (eventually)!

[Lulu]

OMG, some of them are so comfortable!

My sister bought one and she loves it more than anything too! I say go for it.

[Artechim]

I got a glider chair off ebay for $80. It was great. I didn't have it in the nursery. It was in the lounge and never seemed to wake bub up at night. I just took him out there, fed/rocked him back to sleep and put him back in bed.

He wasn't much of a day sleeper for the first couple of months and holding him and rocking was the only way he would have a nap (hence the reason it was in the lounge - at least I could watch t.v)

[{sarah}]

My mum bought me one when I came out of hospital with Zander & we love it. AT the time we kept it in the loungeroom & I would bring Zander out into the rocking chair for his feeds (bottles) over night as well as during the day. Because of his reflux we'd have to sit for aaround half an hour after every feed so it was nice to settle him down rocking in the chair for that time.

We have since bougt a new lounge suite which makes it hard to rearrange like last time, so the rocker is in baby girl's bedroom. I'd say though it will be used mostly for night feeds now because I'm hardly going to lock myself away in her bedroom for feeds during the day with Zander running round.

[Bathsheba]

Yep, I love mine too. It's called a King Glider I think.... something like that. It has a matching gliding footstool. Hint: buy one with WIDE comfy arm rests. Many chairs have arm rests that are too narrow. You'll probably need to have a small cushion available to use to support your feeding arm too. Also it's nice having a style that has a curved head rest so that you can get comfy and drift off when you are exhausted. My DH falls asleep rocking the baby a lot too. It's a piece of furniture that we both just love. Ours was about $400 but a good second hand one would also be worth it on a budget. ETA: oh and we have ours in our main bedroom... it's the room with the most spare room and it's beside the fireplace which is so cosy in winter... it's also nice to have a quiet place to feed when the kids are being noisey in the main part of the house.

[ShootingStar]

I didnt have one with DS but really want to get one this time around. I tried out a girlfriend's once and omg what was i thinking in not having one! Will be so much easier and comfortable then having to rock on the edge of a chair or stand and rock when bub's is unsettled.

[dee73]

I used one of those high-backed office chairs and a foot stool. It was comfy and didn't take up too much room in the nursery.

As far as not taking the baby out of their room overnight, I don't think it matters too much as long as it's not bright lights or noisy in the room you go into. Sometimes I'd take ds to the loungeroom but just have a lamp on rather than the overhead light. If you have a dimmer switch, even better!

[ShootingStar]

Hehe i tried that dee with DH's computer chair but each time you got up is squeeked lol.
Yeh i took Jesse out to the lounge room every feed. Didnt make any difference to him i dont think. Hes always been a pretty well settled baby.

[jenjams]

We have a glider chair I bought from ebay for $70 and we have a rocking ottoman too. It is in the lounge. I use it for all day feeds. I have a pillow propped up I lean on. For night time feeds we do it in bed where it is nice and quiet.
I love our chair.

[leebee81]

Hubby bought me a Poang chair and footstool from Ikea for Christmas. Its in the living room and I do all feeds in it except the 6am one which I do in bed. For the overnight feed I put the softer light on and put the telly on low to keep me awake while Oliver feeds. He goes straight back to sleep after which is good.

[~Trish~]

I feed my DS in our lounge room overnight and it doesn't bother him. I have a comfy armchair that I always use. I also fed my first DS in our lounge and it didn't disturb him either, I just put a lamp on and read a book.

[Willow]

Hint: buy one with WIDE comfy arm rests. Many chairs have arm rests that are too narrow.

Yep! This is the problem with mine. DS has grown much bigger much quicker than DD so I'm already having probs with him hitting his head on the arms while feeding. I am looking at getting rid of it and getting another chair to put in there, not sure what kind yet.

[doulamamma]

just adding my 2c. We were given a huge rocking chair as a baby present that was almost bigger that a single bed. it was this wooden mohogany big monster and i hated it from the minute we got it (call me ungrateful, but i couldn't stand it) it made me seasick to sit in it.. and eventually (after 2yrs) i took it out of the nursery and dumped it at dh's work - it came from his 'good friend' that he just couldn't get rid of it (friend he hasn't spoken to in over a year).. so then my ILs took it home.
only upside was my lil ones loved it and would cuddle up on it before bedtime.
so no rocking chair for me.. i love to nurse in my bed or couch with good pillow support. (it was also angled very oddly and was not in a 'nursing' position anyway.

[MummyTummy]

Great replies everyone. Really good to hear different opinions, especially the wide arms bit. I wouldn't have thought of that.

By the sounds of it people think very highly of their chairs - except Doulamama, but maybe that was because of the chair itself rather than the idea of it.

I will start doing some research but keep the replies coming in, I find it very interesting reading about everyone's personal experiences.

Thanks everyone!!

[smiles4u]

Yeh, I'm glad I never spent my money on one as my bub was a winter bub & being in bed nice & warm at night time feeding her seemed like the best option for both of us ... And during the day the heater was on anyway & I'd feed her on the couch

... What a shame your kids feel in love with it, LOL

[rosehannah]

I would like to add padded armrests too, my chair is a glider but it has wooden armrests that get a bit hard and stick into my arms. I use it for night feeds now( it's in bubs room),but used to use it a lot more when bub was younger to feed where it was more quiet.

[Kazbah]

We used just a laz-e-boy recliner but man I wish we had a rocker, as I'd have to rock him myself.